10/22 making 2 groups

[Buddro]

I took my ruger 10/22 out of the closet today for some target shooting. For the record I am well aware I did everything wrong, dirty barrel, dirty action, cheap ammo (remington thunderbolt). At any rate it was shooting two separate groups about an inch and a half apart at 50 yards. One on the crosshairs the other at 3 o clock. There were some rounds in between the two but the majority went to one group or the other. I could swear the fliers to the right made a less sharp sound when shooting. The amount of rounds going to each group was pretty equal. My question is what can cause this?

I haven't ruled sloppy trigger pull on my part but I would expect the rounds to be distributed in more of a string than two groups.

I am going to start by checking the scope it is a barely used Nikon I would be surprised if it's off but maybe the mounts are tweaked or loose.

Of course I plan to clean it thoroughly before I break it back out.

Any other guesses specific to producing two distinct groups?

 

[Frog4aday]

My first instinct is a variable wind pushing your bullets for some shots (3 o'clock group) and not others (point of aim group) with a few shots falling during an intermediate wind (landing between the two groups.) But a loose scope mount or base could also be a problem.

 

[Bob Wright]

The action screws on mine notoriously come loose. Check those everytime before you go out or during cleaning. If that doesn't improve, check your scope bases. If nothing there, then swap scopes.
Also, try different ammo.
Usually double groups or more point to looseness in the action to stock.

 

[Windini]

I could swear the fliers to the right made a less sharp sound when shooting.

I have read the Thunderbolts are inconsistent (to put it mildly). Note that that is not my personal experience; I avoided buying some because of what I read.

Certainly check screws & clean well, but, before making any alterations, try a couple different types of ammo. I have been amazed at how many feeding issues and POI shifts turned out to be a particular rifle's preferences.

I recently put several hundred rounds through both my 10/22 and my Marlin 60. Some Browning ammo I have in bulk would NOT feed reliably in either. The 10/22 likes CCI standard velocity and will tolerate Remington Golden Bullet, but the group opens up. The Marlin preferred the Rem GB to the CCI, group-wise. Also, the 1st shot after racking the bolt on the Marlin is almost always a flier! I think it has something to do with the way the bolt acts under hand pressure vs blowback operation. But it is consistent - 1st one is the black sheep of that tubeful!

 

[olive drab]

Tighten everything down on the rifle and scope mount and try again

 

[teamr2]

Try some ammo other than the Thunderbolts. May have an inconsistent batch.

 

[milo-2]

What trigger group is in the rifle? What was the accuracy level of the rifle prior to this outing?
Reason I ask, a friend shoots thunderbolts from a 10-22, gun shot darn decent with it, he ran out of his stash, and just re-bought, the whole dynamics of what he had has changed considerably.
22LR ammo is really a crap shoot from lot to lot.

 

[Buddro]

trigger group is stock but has been worked a little by a smith. the rifle previously was able to hold decent groups, single groups at that. I haven't had a chance to bring it back out and put it on paper, but I found a loose screw on the scope mount. I am thinking the rear of the scope was bouncing from one side to the other but not really coming to rest in the middle.

 

[milo-2]

trigger group is stock but has been worked a little by a smith. the rifle previously was able to hold decent groups, single groups at that. I haven't had a chance to bring it back out and put it on paper, but I found a loose screw on the scope mount. I am thinking the rear of the scope was bouncing from one side to the other but not really coming to rest in the middle.

Good deal, hope it comes back.

 

[Frog4aday]

It always surprises me how often .22LR guns can shoot something loose. My .308 Win and .338 WM - scopes and action screws always seem to stay snug, but something about a .22LR (especially a semi-auto) just seems to get screws to back out.

My son's 10/22 started shooting really poorly this last outing. I went to check it out and found the ring to base screws had gotten loose. And since I didn't have a torx wrench of the correct size, that was it for that gun the rest of the day. (Fixed that problem, too: now have lots of different tools in the shooting bucket.)

Anyway, when a .22LR starts shooting badly, seems like rings and mounts are the place to start. And that reminds me - I should put some green (wicking) loctite on that mount now that I've gotten it snugged up again. Don't want my son's day ruined on a future shoot. He was so bummed; felt like I let him down.